The 74-year-old former ITV News at Ten anchor revealed how she fought back during the terrifying incident last week.
Scott said she was leaving a branch of Waterstones in central London when she was struck on the back of her knee, leaving her feeling as if she had been “stabbed”.
The gang attempted to snatch her designer backpack, which she tightly held onto, however one of the thieves unzipped it and removed her purse before running off.
She lost her bank cards, driving licence and cash in the robbery.
Another group then barged into her, and she realised she was being “attacked from both sides at the same time”.
Writing in the Mail on Sunday, Scott said the events were “so swift and practised that it was clear it was a coordinated assault”.
She explained: “I was right by a busy bus stop, although no one would have known what was going on.
“It was slick, brief and clearly engineered to happen in the middle of a crowd. I still feel shattered after what has happened. I can’t believe it happened to me.
“I’m mentally resilient and physically fit, but if they can attack me in such a brazen way they can attack anyone. You’re left feeling not just traumatised, but stupid that you have somehow let it happen.”
Who is Selina Scott?
After starting out her career as a journalist in Dundee, Scott became a national figure as a newsreader for ITN in 1982 at the height of the Falklands War.
Recommended reading:
Scott was also one of the launch team for BBC Breakfast, which began in January 1983.
She went on to make a name for herself in America too, scoring her own chat show on US TV in the 90s before heading back to the UK to front Sky’s breakfast show.
During her career she has interviewed the likes of King Charles and Donald Trump.
In 2018, Scott appeared in four episodes of the BBC’s The Real Marigold Hotel, shot in Rajasthan.
